Brooks Koepka said he has "basically given up" on Matthew Wolff and called the young American's talent "wasted".
Koepka is captain of the LIV Golf team 'Smash GC', with Wolff joining the side ahead of the second season of the 54-hole series. Wolff recently withdrew after the opening round of the Washington DC tournament before his name was removed from Smash GC's social media bios, amid reports that he had left the quartet.
Wolff remained on Smash GC but it seems that his captain, five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka, isn't his biggest fan.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated's Alex Micelli, Koepka didn't hold back his feelings on Wolff and in particular his attitude and work ethic.
“I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that's not competing,” Koepka told Sports Illustrated at this week's LIV Golf London event.
“I'm not a big fan of that. You don't work hard. It's very tough. It's very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you've got one guy that won't work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it's very tough.
"I've basically given up on him. A lot of talent, but I mean the talent's wasted.”
Wolff graduated from Oklahoma State University alongside Viktor Hovland after winning the NCAA Division I individual championship. He turned pro at a similar time to the Norwegian and Collin Morikawa, with all three lauded as future stars.
Wolff won the 2019 3M Open on the PGA Tour in just his third professional start
Wolff won on the PGA Tour in just his third professional start at the 2019 3M Open, where he eagled the final hole to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Morikawa. He would then go on to hold the 54-hole lead at the 2020 US Open, which DeChambeau won, before taking two months away from golf in 2021 to deal with his mental health.
He has since joined LIV Golf but he has yet to show his full potential. He sits 25th in the standings this year, with his best finish of 5th coming at the Orlando event in April.
“I'm here, you know, trying to do what I can to play the best round of golf and that's going to help the team,” Wolff told Sports Illustrated.
“I'm just here to focus on myself and try to play some good golf and that's what everyone's really trying to do, because golf is trying to put the best score up and then if that helps your team it's great.”
Wolff went on to describe Koepka's comments as "heartbreaking."
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